A debugger (or debugging tool) is a computer program that is used to debug (and in some cases test or optimize) other computer programs. When the computer program crashes, the debugger generally shows the offending position or location in the original code (for source-level debuggers). A crash occurs when the computer program cannot continue because of a programming bug. Typically, debuggers offer functions such as running a program step by step (single stepping), stopping (breaking) at a particular event and tracking the values of variables.
Many software systems (multi-threaded or distributed systems) are written in more than one programming language. For example, a system may be implemented in Java with another language running on top of Java that needs to be debugged. Further difficulties are presented due to the lack of standardization in terms of internal structures, such as stack frames, between different programming languages.
For example, in business integration tooling, there are often different language debugger tools running on different debug runtime/test environments. In the tooling, each debugger would have its own way to show its suspended thread and stack frame. Each debugger may not know the existence of the other one. These situations create significant difficulties for software developers attempting to debug these systems.
Consequently, there exists an ongoing need for debugging technology that facilitates efficient programming by way of language, debug tool, host application and operating environment independence.